A variety of electrical energy storage devices have heretofore been used or proposed for use either as the principal or as a back-up source of electrical energy. Electric storage batteries of a type which are capable of supplying at least about 50 watt hours of electric power per pound of weight have been conveniently classified as high energy density (H.E.D.) storage batteries which, because of their compactness and high energy capacity, are eminently satisfactory for use in a variety of stationary and mobile power plant systems. In spite of the impetus created by public demand to replace conventional fossil-fueled internal combustion engines as the primary propulsion source for vehicles due to the pollution associated with such engines in congested urban areas, no satisfactory high energy density electric storage device has been proposed up until the time of the present invention which satisfies the myriad of technical and economic requirements that must be met in order to render such electric storage devices commercially acceptable.
A continuing heretofore unfilled need has been the provision of an economical electric storage battery which is of high energy storage capacity and which permits a simple and rapid refueling of the battery to restore it to its fully charged condition. Prior art type electric storage devices have generally been of excessive weight and/or size, slow to recharge and defective in many instances due to the potential toxicity and danger associated with the chemical constituents utilized in the generation of electric current, as well as the relatively complex and critical controls required to monitor the electrical discharge of such devices to maintain a safe and efficient operation thereof.
The present invention overcomes the problems and deficiencies associated with prior art electric energy storage devices in that it employs readily available and relatively inexpensive materials which can conveniently be generated at a central facility and physically inserted into the system, thereby effecting a refueling thereof with a minimal expenditure of time and effort.